Blind In One Eye
by TheCocaineDiaries
Summary: Neji and Hinata are siblings that grew up hating each other until Neji moved out at age 11. When they are reunited, they realize how much the separation has made them want each other. AU. NejiHina. Warning: Incest. RATING WILL INCREASE.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_ Never self-possessed, or prudent, love is all abandonment._

_ -__ Ralph Waldo Emerson_

_---  
_

There are times when Neji wakes up and forgets that he is blind in one eye. This morning is one of those times, and when Neji blinks open his silvery eyes, he is at first startled to discover that he cannot see through one of them. He rubs the sleep away from his eyes, yawns, and is now fully awake and understands. These mornings are difficult for him, because it forces him to remember that day, years ago, when half of his vision disappeared and his life changed dramatically.

It is 7:00 in the morning, and Neji steps out of bed and into the shower. School doesn't start until 8:30, but he needs time for his shower, particularly with washing his hair. His long, dark hair falls to the middle of his back, longer than a lot of girls, and he prefers to keep it clean. His mind is still stuck in the past, and as he looks down at his body, he remembers a time when the skin was constantly interrupted by scratches and bruises. He likes his body better now that it is smooth and is only interrupted by the muscles protruding slightly from his pale skin.

He steps out of the shower, dries, and dresses himself for school. He brushes his long hair and ties it with a rubber band, hanging at the nape of his neck. His mind is finally brought back into the present when he enters the kitchen and has to make breakfast both for himself and for his grandmother. He quickly throws down a bowl of cereal for himself, but takes time making oatmeal with honey and cinnamon and raisins for his grandma, her favorite meal. She walks into the kitchen a few minutes later, blinking her wrinkled eyes.

"Hi, Grandma," Neji says to her, smiling.

"Good morning, honey. My, that smells good."

He gets her a napkin and spoon and makes sure that the oatmeal isn't too hot. He helps her with every detail that goes into eating breakfast. He also looks back at her, worried, when he has to leave the house to go to school, trying not to think about all the troubles an 86-year old could get into home alone.

He takes the bus to school. It is filled with adults going to work holding briefcases, and not many high school students like himself. His grandma's neighborhood didn't have many teenagers. The few that he does see, however, are finishing their homework hurriedly, holding textbooks on their knees and notebooks in their laps. Neji's homework is done, safe in his book bag. He never needs to rush it at the last minute. Homework is easy, even at the prestigious high school he attends.

Neji ended up getting to class a few minutes early. That made him regret not spending a few extra minutes with his grandma. Kids started filing into the classroom, and one of Neji's classmates sat next to him.

"Hey, can I copy your English homework? Please, Neji?" he asked helplessly, hands clasped together as though he was begging, large glasses nearly slipping off his freckled nose.

Neji sighed, "Yeah, yeah," and handed the notebook to him.

"Thanks!" he exclaimed and started copying. "I have this due next period, and I've already missed, like, six homeworks."

"Mhm," Neji said.

"So, are you coming to the soccer game today?" the boy asked, eyes still squinting at the homework.

"What soccer game?" Neji asked without much interest.

"The girls' soccer game tonight! Everyone's really excited for it. The girls' soccer team hasn't won anything in a long time."

"So they probably won't win this time, either," Neji replied.

"No, I have faith in them," he said with a big grin. He stopped grinning and started staring at Neji, eyebrows twisted in confusion. "Hey, man… How did you end up not seeing through one eye anyway?"

Neji's usually calm face hardened. "I was smashed in the face with a glass vase." The boy next to him stared, wide-eyed. "Now, are you done with that?" Neji said, and grabbed his notebook off the other boy's desk without waiting for an answer. The boy hesitated, contemplating whether or not to ask for it back, but he decides it is safer not to.

The kid eventually moves to another seat. Neji doesn't mind, because the seats around him are soon filled up with his friends and classmates, and when class starts, he raises his hand often like usual, occasionally amazing people with his answers to the teacher. This particular teacher likes him, but that is not always the case. He had many teachers that didn't like him for being so smart. Adults didn't like arrogant kids, even if they had a reason to be so cocky. The same thing applied to other kids; some of them, particularly the girls, admired him and asked him for help with their own work, but the more competitive students, who were always used to being the best, reacted bitterly to someone even smarter than them.

This caused Neji to think about Hinata. She had recently transferred to his school, and he wondered how long and hard she had to study for these past years to be able to get into such a school by her Junior year. The thought made him feel bitterly triumphant, and he tried to think about something else.

Neji usually had lunch with a large group of people – mostly girls – but a lot of them were missing today, he realized, probably practicing for the soccer game tonight. Neji wondered what the big deal was; he was on several sports teams himself, and they were always victorious, and no one ever cared this much. Perhaps that alluded to how much the girls' soccer team had lost in the past.

Neji was sitting outside on one of the picnic tables that decorated the lawn outside the school. He was with his friends, but was growing bored of all the talk about soccer and homework and grades. That seemed to be all anyone ever spoke about anymore. He excused himself and stood up. He started walking slowly around the lawn, towards the school. Everyone around him was talking and laughing, and he kept his silver eyes forward, a frown interrupting his otherwise delicate face, as usual. Lunch was nearing an end, so he walked into the school, which was still mostly empty, and headed towards his locker.

As he turned the corner, he saw two people at the end of the hall. One had spiky blonde hair, and was wearing bright, clashing colors. He was laughing too loud, and Neji could hear him from all the way down the hall. _Loser_, he thought to himself.

The girl next to him had short dark hair, cropped in the back and longer in the front, with bangs that framed her face. She was small and short, and her body language made her seem even smaller; Her hands were clasped together in front of her chest, and she took very small steps. She had the same deathly pale skin and silvery eyes as Neji.

Neji's face immediately hardened as he realized who it was. He hadn't seen her in a long time, even though they had been going to the same school for 6 months now. The geek walking next to her had his arm around her, and she was smiling giddily, leaning into his touch. They were laughing like children. Neji felt anger, like nearly every time he ever saw her, and it only got worse as she finally lifted her pale eyes and noticed who was walking her way. She looked down immediately. Neji was staring straight ahead, past her face. They finally crossed each other. Neji was walking down the middle of the hallway, forcing her and her loser boyfriend to separate. As they passed each other, she glanced up at him, but he kept his eyes forward. Then their backs were to each other.

Neji's friends had invited him to hang out after school, but he declined. He was with them on most days, except for when his worry for his grandma was too much to bear, and he needed to go home right away to check on her. The worry he felt for her was the worst; it started small, but crept up on him more and more throughout the day, until he thought he might be sick. If his grandma was ever gone, then he would not have anyone left to live with. What would happen to him then?

Neji sighed a huge breath of relief when he opened the door to the apartment and saw his grandma sitting on the couch, watching TV, as good as ever. When she saw him she smiled a huge, wrinkled smile, and said, "How was school, baby?"

Neji smiled, his face finally losing the frown he carried with him outside of his home. He put his bag down and sat down next to her on the couch, and they watched TV together.

Later that night, after they were finished eating the dinner Neji prepared, his Grandma went to bed. Neji picked out her nightgown, set it on the bed, watched her brush her teeth, then left her alone to dress herself. He came in a few minutes later, kissed her goodnight, and left to do his homework; he had a lot, but it would be easy enough.

It was soon past midnight, and Neji was starting to become sleepy, but he still had homework left to do. He walked into the bathroom, turned on the sink, and splashed cold water on his face. He felt a little more awake. He looked into the mirror above him. Water was dripping down his ivory face and in his dark hair. He looked at his eyes; one was the same bright silver-gray color that ran in his family, but the other was especially pale, it almost blended into his skin. It looked much duller than the other; there were no dimensions in the color like in regular eyes. The white-gray color was completely flat. The difference was so distinct, it scared people sometimes.

It felt extremely odd to be able to look at his blind eye when it was not able to look at anything itself.

At that moment, the phone rang loudly. Neji jumped, startled. He cursed, hoping it would not wake his grandma, and hurried to get it. "Hello?" he said.

"Hello, is this Neji Hyuuga?" a woman's voice asked.

"Yes," he replied.

"Sorry to bother you so late, I am a nurse at Methodist Hospital, and we have someone by the name of Hinata Hyuuga here. She came in a few hours ago; her leg was injured during a soccer game at school, but we have bandaged her and she is ready to go home."

"Okay…" Neji said, confused and irritated. "So send her home."

"We have called her home already, but she claims that both her parents are out of town, and she has no other relatives besides those at the residence she gave this phone number to. We really need someone to pick her up, would you be able to do it?"

Neji was in disbelief. "Are you serious? She wants someone here to get her?"

"She had no choice but to give me this phone number. We will only let her go with a family member. Won't you be able to come get your sister?"

Neji grimaced at the word "sister". Hinata was hardly a sister to him. "Isn't there some other way?" he asked.

There was an annoyed pause on the other line. "Unless there is some mysterious family member living here that no one is aware of, then I'm afraid not. Now, we will be expecting you here in half an hour. Will you come?"

Neji sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. He could feel himself getting very angry. "Fine. I'll be there," he said bitterly before slamming down the phone.

He couldn't believe what was happening. He hadn't exchanged a word with Hinata in 6 years, and the few times that he passed by her in school or in town, he had ignored her, not even looking at her, like today in the hallway. He hadn't been in the same room as her in over half a decade, and now he was expected to _drive her home?_

Neji almost felt like not leaving his home at all, and just leaving her at the hospital.

But he grit his teeth and walked out of the apartment. He took the elevator down to the garage and got into his grandma's car. She hadn't been able to use it in years, so it was basically his now. He started up the car and drove towards the hospital. It was well after midnight, and the streets were almost empty now. He got to the big white building quickly.

He walked through the automatic doors into the main lobby. Even all the way downstairs it smelt horribly of antiseptic and rubbing alcohol. Neji cringed, becoming pissed off again as he remembered why he was here, and approached the main desk.

"I'm here to pick up Hinata Hyuuga," he told the lady behind the desk.

After a few phone calls, she answered, "She will be down shortly. You may take a seat until she arrives."

Neji sat down at one of the many chairs in the middle of the lobby. A few seats away from him was a man holding a napkin to his mouth, quietly coughing up blood. A few more seats down was a small child and his mother. The child was crying, holding a broken looking arm. Neji felt sick, and turned away.

Then he saw her. Hinata was sitting in a wheel chair, being rolled by a nurse behind her. Her right leg was bandaged at the ankle, and in her lap was a pair of crutches. Her face was facing down, so Neji couldn't see her face even if he wanted to, which he didn't. At one point, Hinata stopped the nurse, thanked her, and stood up off the wheel chair. She was struggling to support herself on one leg, and she attempted to use the crutches to aid her. She very slowly got the hang of it, and it seemed like an eternity later when she finally reached Neji's chair.

Hinata stood in front of him, and Neji was staring straight ahead, eyes landing on her torso, not wanting to look up into her eyes, which were so much like his. Neither of them knew what to say. For the first time in a long time, Neji was at a loss for how to handle this situation.

"H-hello…" Hinata finally spoke, after literally minutes of silence.

Neji felt a lump in his throat. He hadn't heard that voice in so long. It sounded exactly like before. He was surprised his memories were still so vivid. "Hi…" he replied, barely audible. More silence. He eventually stood up.

"The car is this way…" Neji spoke. His voice choked on the last word, his mind being unable to process that he was actually talking to this girl. He quickly turned from her and started down the lobby, and through the automatic doors. Assuming Hinata was still behind him, he reached the car outside the hospital. When he turned around again, she was still there.

Neji awkwardly opened the passenger door for her, and thought about whether he should help her into it or not, but decided it was better if he simply left her to that. Hinata struggled, but managed to land in the seat safely. She shut the door as Neji climbed into the drivers seat and started the car.

They had started to drive when Neji saw Hinata struggling with the seatbelt out of the corner of his eye. He was starting to feel increasingly nervous, but tried to appear calm, like he always did. He turned toward her. "Do you need help?" he asked.

She paused, surprised at his words, and nodded. "Um, yes… I don't know how to put on this seatbelt…"

At a red-light, Neji leaned over to help her with the seatbelt. He realized how close the two of them were at this moment. He looked up warily into her face. He almost gasped with shock, because he hadn't truly _looked at her_ since they were kids. If he ever managed to pass by her in the streets or at school, he always looked away from her. Whenever he thought about her, he pictured her as he remembered her, a 10 year old.

However, when he looked at her now, he realized how much she had matured; her once chubby, youthful cheeks had turned sharp with angles, making her look like her 16 years of age. Her once perfect, translucent skin now had a scar on her chin. Maybe from soccer? Her once innocent silver eyes were now burdened with the realities of life, just like his own.

Neji stared, knowing that she was looking at his own face and making the same observations. They were both in shock for a few moments, and then Neji finished adjusting her seatbelt and leaned back into his own seat. He resumed driving.

"Um… so, what happened to you?" Neji asked. He was instantly shocked with himself; _why was he talking to her?_

Hinata seemed shocked as well. She pushing her two index fingers together, a sign of nervousness. "I… I was playing in the soccer game at our school… I tripped and fell. I sprained my ankle."

Neji didn't say anything. He was still surprised, and a little angry, at himself, for even trying to talk to her in the first place.

Hinata hesitated, but started talking again. "Um… I'm very sorry for disturbing you tonight… our mom… I mean, there was no one else to come get me. So, I'm sorry."

Neji had been planning to ignore her for the entire car ride. Instead, he nodded at her words. "It's okay…" he said weakly.

What was he saying? It was_ not_ okay.

Neji couldn't help but notice how much Hinata had stuttered while she spoke. Her voice was also very high-pitched. It had sounded that way when they were children, also, but back then it sounded cute. Now it sounded like she was constantly scared. She was also looking down at her lap, and playing with her fingers. She seemed like she just wanted to crawl into a ball and disappear. Neji was fascinated.

"H-How is grandma…?" Hinata asked shyly.

_She's not your grandma, she's mine,_ Neji wanted to say. It was true, too. His grandma was his father's mother. She had no relation whatsoever to Hinata. "She's fine," he answered, voice stoic. He remembered the few times that his grandma had visited his old home, with Hinata, when they were children. He knew Hinata had no other grandparents, not really, since they lived so far away. He realized that his grandma was the closest thing Hinata had ever had to a grandparent. Maybe she missed her. "She's old… but fine," he added, "For the most part, anyway. I worry about her." His voice was still stoic, but at least he was saying something.

"Oh…" Hinata whispered. "Yes, she's very old now… 86, right?" she asked softly.

Neji was surprised that she knew that. "Yes," he replied. "That would be correct."

"Um… h-her birthday was recent, r-right? What did you guys do together?" she said.

Neji's mind was racing right now. He didn't know what to think. He wasn't able to process the fact that he and his long-lost sister were sitting together in the same car, chatting about his grandma. Was she making small talk? Did she truly care about his grandma? Or was she trying to talk to _him_? Neji found himself unable to think properly.

"We… we went out to a restaurant together," he answered. "And I bought her a jewelry box."

They were still looking away from each other, but Neji could imagine that he saw a ghost of a smile from Hinata from the very corner of his vision. "That's very nice…" she whispered her reply.

Silence. Then Neji sighed. "So… uh, you go to Belvedere now," he said, talking about the high school they went to.

"Yes… it was very hard to get into," she admitted.

Something inside of Neji became painful. He could feel the anger bubbling inside his chest.

They reached Hinata's house. Neji stopped the car, and they both climbed out of it, Hinata very slowly and cautiously. She walked around on her crutches to the other side of the car, where Neji was waiting on the sidewalk.

Hinata noticed that Neji was no longer speaking, and she could feel the worry increasing. She tried desperately to continue the conversation. "Yes… yes, I've been applying to there every year since high school started," she said. "They finally took me in last summer. I was so happy."

From what Hinata remembered of Neji, and what she had heard from around school, he was a very cocky and prideful person. She was hoping that her words would work, because she was implying that although Neji had gotten into the school right away, it took her years to be accepted.

"T-The schoolwork there is t-tough…" she continued, feeling more nervous every second. Why was he not answering her? "B-But I'm trying to keep up with it. I don't know how you do it… or how you managed to be accepted on your first try," she said.

Neji turned around, his eyes wild with rage.

"Because a person like me is supposed to be going to a school like that!" he roared. Hinata jumped, frightened. "I don't get why they would accept someone like you, who clearly does not belong there! How much of an idiot can you be if you apply 3 times and are denied every time? Just because you're there now doesn't make you any smarter! You're still the same weak, stupid, spoiled little girl I remember! Why don't you do yourself and I a favor and transfer back, _so I don't have to see your fucking face ever again_!"

With those last words, Neji turned, flung the car door opened, and drove away. Hinata was still standing on the sidewalk, shaking with fear, and fighting the tears in her eyes. Neji sped back to his grandma's house and ran into the living room, where his homework was still waiting. He looked at the clock; almost 2 in the morning. He picked up his pencil and attempted to finish his Physics problems, but before he knew it a tear had fallen from his blind eye and onto the paper. He was so shocked, because he hadn't cried in so long, that a second tear fell, and a third, and a fourth, until he was crying so hard that he had to press a pillow to his mouth not to wake up his grandma.

--

I update every 5 reviews I get.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_"The condition of being forgiven is self-abandonment."_

_- Aldous Huxley_

---

_A 10-year old Neji was kneeling on the floor of his living room, which was littered with broken shards of glass and other household items. Behind him stood 9-year old Hinata and her dad, Neji's step-dad. They both seemed nervous, the dad's arm around Hinata's shoulders. She had a bruise on her cheek and her hair was messed up, sticking in all directions. Neji had his own bruise on his stomach, underneath his clothes, and a bite mark on his upper arm, concealed by his shirt sleeve, so, to his mother, it looked as though Neji had left the fight unscathed, meanwhile his little sister was hurt. _

_It always looked that way to her, as though Neji truly hated his sister and wanted to hurt her. A part of him wondered if he really did hate her, and he probably did, but why couldn't she see that he was getting hurt too?_

"_I thought I told you guys to stop this…," his mother whispered, voice strained. "… this fighting. You fight at school, you fight at home, you fight whenever we go out as a family. I told you to stop, and you never do. Why is this, Neji?"_

_Neji didn't answer. Any answer he gave would always be wrong. _

"_Why do you keep hurting your sister, Neji? Why?" she asked again. Neji still didn't answer. She started screaming. "You're her older brother! You're supposed to protect her!" The anger seemed to explode out of her, her once calm voice coming out frighteningly loud and livid. She shot out one of her arms and grabbed Neji by his long dark hair. He screamed in pain, as she grabbed and pulled viciously. Her husband ran to stop her, and Neji fell to the ground. The tears spilled from his silver eyes, and he looked up to see Hinata looking at him, a satisfied smile on her face._

Neji woke up from his uneasy dreams, scared, wondering again why he couldn't see out of one eye. After sitting up in his bed and shutting off his alarm clock, he remembered, like always. Although he was exceptionally tired after his late night, he stood up and got into the shower, like every morning at 7 am.

"Good morning, grandma," he said as she slowly entered the kitchen, her oatmeal waiting for her, as always.

"Good morning, Neji," she replied, smiling, voice cracking with sleep. "My, that smells good."

This morning seemed exactly the same as yesterday. To Neji's grandma, nothing should have changed for her grandson. However, she didn't know how much contemplation and suffering Neji was trying to avoid by refusing to think about last night.

"Bye, grandma," he called as he shut the door of the apartment behind him. He shifted his book bag higher on his shoulders and took the elevator downstairs. He caught the bus at the corner of his street and was off to school. However, this time on the bus, he was busy doing his Physics homework, which he had never finished last night. He pressed too hard on his pencil, and the tip broke, an action that made him realize how truly angry he was at Hinata; Her being in his life, even just for a half-hour, was making him suffer. Now he would have to turn in his homework incomplete, like every other loser not smart enough to even understand it.

When he got to class, he tried to put away his anger like a cell phone or iPod that wasn't allowed in school. He sat next to his friends, mumbled a quick "hello", and got started on the work on the chalk board. His brunette friend, Tenten, turned to face him, and asked, "Hey, Neji, you feeling alright this morning?"

Neji, surprised, guessed that being upset wasn't as easily concealable as he thought. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" he replied, eyeing her twin buns on each side of her head with a level of annoyance.

"Just asking. You look pouty today," she explained. "It's cute, though. I like it," she added hesitantly.

"Mhm," Neji said dully.

When class was over, they left the room together. They started down the hall towards their next subject. Neji noticed the same spikey-haired blonde kid with the too-bright colors he'd seen yesterday standing at his open locker. He felt dread build up in the pit of his stomach as he saw that Hinata was next to him. She was leaning on her crutches, ankle still bandaged. Neji turned away immediately.

Tenten, who had noticed Neji's upset face, touched his arm. This time, however, it was more like a friend, and less of a flirt, because she could see that Neji was truly worried about something. "Hey… Neji, you look awful. What happened?"

Neji jerked away from her touch. "Nothing," he snapped at her.

If her feelings were hurt, she did not show it, and instead continued, "Is it about that girl over there? You're, um… cousin, right?"

"Yeah…" Neji said. The entire school was under the impression that Neji and Hinata were just cousins. Their appearances gave away that they were related, but the distance between them did not look like a half-sibling relationship at all, so Neji couldn't blame them. "Don't worry about it," he told Tenten vaguely.

Neji was trying not to look at Hinata, but, as he passed through the hallway, he couldn't help but glance up at her a few times. When she saw him, her face looked nervous, but he noticed that she had walked away from her loser boyfriend, and was trying to weave through the crowd to get to him. Neji immediately tensed up, and hurried away, letting out a huge breath as he entered the classroom and sat down.

In class, Neji couldn't concentrate on the lesson; It wasn't like he needed to, anyway, he was already farther ahead than any of the other students. He felt scared, which was odd, considering the object of his fear was a younger girl much smaller than himself. He couldn't suppress the all-too-familiar feeling, especially when he traced it back to when they were kids, when he had felt this feeling every day. When they were children, Hinata had constantly used her position as their mother's favorite to her advantage. If she was ever in trouble, her grades low, or her chores went undone, she blamed it on Neji. He couldn't totally blame her, because if he had been lucky enough to be the "favorite child", he probably would have done the exact same thing. It wasn't like she was aware of how it made Neji feel; But it didn't matter, because Neji had been able to escape that life, and her. Why did she have to come back, and bring those terrible feelings back with her?

For some reason, Neji was absolutely dreading the moment where he'd have to walk out the classroom again. He tried to calm down by telling himself that there was no way Hinata would be waiting outside the door for him. After the way he had yelled at her last night, why would she ever want to talk to him again? Maybe he had been mistaken earlier when he thought he saw Hinata walking towards him. Maybe she wanted nothing to do with him, which would be fine with Neji. He desperately hoped that he was right, as the bell rang, announcing the end of class.

He slowly gathered his notebooks and pens, letting the rest of the students exit the classroom before him. He finally stood up as the last bit of the crowd was walking out the door. He followed the final person's back through the doorway, but he could see that Hinata was waiting by the door frame, pushing her two index fingers together, just as he had feared. He almost felt sick.

"N-Neji…," she said softly. She looked nervous. "P-Please, I want to talk. Don't run away."

Neji, mind blank, couldn't do anything besides nod his head slowly, and let himself be lead away from the noisy hallway by his half-sister. They turned the corner and stopped by the windows, where there was less of a crowd to bother them.

"Um…" Hinata started. Her nervousness was obvious. She wasn't looking at Neji, but looking down at the floor, and she was twisting her fingers together. The look on her face was enough to tell Neji that she was just as scared as he was about talking to him.

_So why was she doing it?_ Neji wondered, narrowing his eyes.

"I just wanted to say… that I'm sorry… f-for what happened last night…," she said, nearly a whisper. Neji was surprised; Why was _she_ apologizing? "I'm sorry for whatever I said that upset you. I know it was a very odd situation that we were in… it was hard on both of us. But… I-I'm hoping we can put that behind us. Make a truce, or something…?" Her voice cracked on the last word.

Neji was once again in disbelief. The very sound of her voice gave him chills; It sounded like a ghost from his past come to haunt him. His mind was racing; what did "make a truce" even mean? Did she mean for last night? Or for his entire childhood? Did this "truce" imply that he ever speak to her again? If that was the case, then what the hell did she expect him to say? 'Yes, Hinata, let's have the great, normal brother-sister relationship that we always wanted?'

He let out a bitter laugh. "You're funny. Why would I do something like that?"

His words seemed to hit her hard, and her face fell. "I-I… I just hoped…"

"Hoped for what? Why don't you just go to hell," he hissed at her, "and _leave me alone_." He pushed past her back into the crowd.

He could feel the regret hit him like a brick as he moved away from her. The pain he felt was so intense, that he pushed people roughly to the side and stomped into the bathroom. His next class had already started, so the bathroom was empty. He reached the mirrors and looked into them, seeing his reflection interrupted by the dirt and scratches in the glass. He leaned across the sinks, and let the tears fall. Just like last night, they fell painfully, his chest heaving, and he gripped at his hair, wondering when it would stop. Neji was not a crier, and before last night, he had not cried for a very long time. Maybe a few tears were shed when he was worried about his grandma, but this was something very different. This crying had a sadness that was enough to fill the entire room. He desperately wanted it to end.

After a few minutes, he could feel himself begin to regain control over his emotions, and the crying stopped. He looked into the mirror again. His usually calm silver eyes were now red and irritated looking. He had always wondered why blind eyes could cry; If they couldn't see anything, why were they sad? He sighed deeply, wiped the rest of the tears away, and splashed water on his face. He re-tied his brown hair, which had gotten loose during his time there, and tried to compose his face so that it looked like nothing was wrong. When he was done, he left the bathroom and walked into class late.

After the long hours of school were over, Neji walked towards his locker, mind still possessed by what had happened this morning. He was shocked that a few words exchanged between him and Hinata could affect him so deeply. Saying he felt like shit would be an understatement; He felt so terrible, it was almost unbearable. He wasn't sure why he felt so bad, because after all Hinata had put him through, he should have been happy to be able to yell at her without the threat of their mother coming and punishing him for it. Yet, whenever he recalled the conversation he had had with her this morning, he felt absolute dread, and when he remembered the very few, calm, almost-friendly words they had exchanged in the car, the dread nearly went away. _Maybe_… he thought, _at the bottom of my heart, I always wanted a sister…a real sister, one that I could love and protect, and not one that I only felt hatred for._ Neji couldn't help but wonder how things could have been between him and Hinata if they had gotten along as kids.

Neji almost felt the tears return to his eyes, but forced them down, and slammed his locker shut and ran outside. He flew across the lawn outside of his school, and searched through the crowd, looking for cropped indigo hair and silver eyes. He had almost given up until he saw a tiny girl taking small steps down the pavement, away from school. He ran until he caught up with her, and stepped in front of her, gasping for breath.

"Hinata…" he breathed, looking into her eyes, identical to his. She looked surprised, a little scared, and like she wanted to cry, all in one expression. "Please forgive me… forgive my words from before. I didn't mean it."

She smiled hugely, stepped toward him, then hesitated. He looked at her curiously. She stepped forward again and wrapped her arms around him, her head only reaching his shoulders. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he wound his arms around her as well. They stood like that, and Neji fought the urge to cry.

---

5 reviews = next chapter


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

_"Family quarrels are bitter things. They don't go by any rules. They're not like aches or wounds; they're more like splits in the skin that won't heal because there's not enough material." _

_- F. Scott Fitzgerald_

_---  
_

A few moments after Hinata had thrown her arms around Neji, he cautiously took a step back. They separated, and looked at each other awkwardly. Neji was wondering why she had hugged him in the first place. Hugging was something that a brother and sister could do, but Neji and Hinata certainly didn't fit into that category; Not mentally, at least. Now that he was thinking about it, he wondered what came next. He had apologized for his behavior, but did she expect anything else?

Hinata, wanting to break the silence, said, "I-I'm glad. That makes me happy, that you didn't mean it."

Neji slowly nodded his head. "Yeah," he mumbled.

They stood in silence for several minutes, until Hinata's nervousness got the better of her, and she said, "I'm going to go now. Bye…" and walked off.

Neji didn't turn around to watch her go. He stood in place, not sure how to feel. He was still left with questions buzzing in his mind; Did he and Hinata go back to normal now, ignoring each other? Did they occasionally say "hi" and "bye", like casual acquaintances? Something about Hinata's tone and how she had reacted to his apology made him feel like she wanted something more. Did she want to continue talking to him? Or even… attempt a brother-sister relationship?

Neji told himself to slow down. There was no way that would happen.

Later that night, Neji was at home, wondering what to make for dinner for his grandma. When he had first started living with her, when he was 11, she did all the cooking. However, it was clear that it took a lot of energy out of her and she preferred that Neji do it. He had no idea how to cook initially, but was a quick learner. Today he decided to make soup. No… soup was hot. Hot things were dangerous. Pizza? No, pizza had crust, which was hard for her to chew. Pasta? No, of course not, pasta was long and stringy and easy to choke on.

Neji stared around the kitchen for a few more minutes. Soup, it was.

As he was boiling the water and cutting up the vegetables, his grandma walked slowly into the kitchen and patted him on the head. Neji looked up at her. Her wrinkled face looked almost nothing like his own; He had gotten all his looks from his mother. That was probably why he and Hinata looked so alike, almost like twins, with the same dark hair and pale complexions. His grandma had been a blue-eyed-blonde in her youth. Neji vaguely wondered if he should tell his grandma about what had happened with Hinata today and last night.

"Anything interesting happen at school today?" she asked pleasantly.

Neji hesitated. He knew his grandma wasn't fond of his mother's side of the family. She did not care for his father's ex-wife and new child, and was old fashioned in the way that she was fiercely loyal only to her direct relatives. And, besides, what was there to tell? Almost nothing, so Neji said, "Not really. Nothing out of the ordinary."

When the soup was done, Neji set the table and waited 10 minutes for the meal to cool down to a safe temperature. He poured his grandma's soup into her bowl and called her to the table. They sat down, and she took a sip, pronouncing it delicious.

"I'm so lucky to have a grandson who takes care of me," she said affectionately, leaning over to pat his head again. "Most teenagers are brats. But not my Neji. Even when I used to visit you and Hinata, you were always my favorite."

Neji tensed, but tried to smile weakly. "Yeah… if only everyone could have seen it that way."

"Oh, hush. Don't you want to add more spice?" she asked as she finished adding some to her own bowl, and attempting to add some to his own before he stopped her, exclaiming, "No, you know I hate spicy food!"

Of course his grandma would have liked him better; Neji was her blood relative, and Hinata was not. Just like how his mother would have liked Hinata better than him, because Neji was from a different father, and did not fit into their new family with her new husband. He realized how truly fake family relations could be.

After dinner, Neji washed the dishes, helped his grandma into bed, and did his homework, like usual. The news on TV was playing softly in the background, telling him about rapists and murderers, some of them caught, and some on the loose. Why was it that some crimes were brought to court and shown on TV, and everything else kept happening under everyone's noses, no one speaking up?

These were the things Neji thought about as he undressed and climbed into bed. At night, the apartment was so dark, nearly pitch black. It had always been that way. Luckily, Neji had never been afraid of the dark. As a child he was never afraid of anything irrational, like most other kids. He always killed the spiders when everyone else was too afraid. Hinata was very different, she had always needed a nightlight to sleep, which was annoying for Neji back when they had shared a room. He wondered if she was the same way now.

Neji thought back to his initial talk with Hinata that day. He wondered why it had affected him so much, even going so far as to make him cry, and why the feeling had lasted the entire day, up until he apologized to her. He had been so overwhelmed with dread, building in the pit of his stomach, as though fighting with Hinata was the worst thing that could ever happen to him. Why would he feel that way now, when he had spent his entire childhood hating her and fighting with her without caring? It was like his unexpected reunion with his long-lost sister had shaken him up, making him forget about all the progress he had made during their separation, and filling him with the longing for a family member besides his grandma that could love him; a feeling that he had tried to leave behind.

Neji expected that thought to make him angry. Instead, he just felt lost.

The next morning, Neji was anxious. He still didn't know if Hinata wanted anything to do with him, or what kind of terms they were on at all. What happened if he saw her in the halls again, and didn't know how to acknowledge her? Neji bit his lip as he walked into the school building, already worried.

"G-Good morning, Neji…" he heard from behind him. He whirled around just in time to see Hinata passing by him, slowly, leaning on the crutches. She was looking at him, appearing a little flustered, as though it took her a lot of courage to say those few words.

"Good morning," he managed to reply just in time. She gave him a polite, but shy, little smile, and continued down the hall.

Neji couldn't contain the huge grin on his face as he turned away and took his usual route to class. The dread had disappeared instantly, leaving him pure happiness. Tenten took a double take when she saw Neji walk into class, beaming, as though she had never seen Neji smile before in his life.

"What happened to _you_?" she asked, still wide-eyed.

That mellowed Neji a bit. His face turned serious again as he sat down next to her, but the feeling was still inside him, and was showing itself quite clearly as he answered his teacher's questions with new-found enthusiasm. Tenten was constantly shaking his arm or poking him, trying to get his attention, and trying to figure out why he was acting so differently today.

Neji knew he couldn't answer her. Even if he wanted to, the answer would have been "because my sister said hi to me", which would only have further confused her.

"Tell me what happened!" she insisted as they walked to their next class. "What could possibly make you, Neji Hyuuga, happy? It can't be about school, you always get good grades… I haven't heard anything new about your friends… unless it's about a girl?" she finally asked, tone suspicious.

Neji could already see the jealousy in her eyes, so he calmed her down by saying, "No, of course not. Girls are the last thing on my mind." He found that he didn't care as she clearly got her feelings hurt.

In between classes, Neji had found himself in the bathroom, looking into the mirror again. He was surprised by how different he looked; His silver eyes were bright, and even his pale skin seemed to have more color in it than usual. It was hard to imagine that just yesterday he had been sobbing uncontrollably, tear tracks on his face and eyes red. He was again fascinated by how much even just a few words from Hinata could affect him so much.

The only negative side effect he could see was that this new-found happiness made him want more. For the first time since him and Hinata's reunion, he _wanted_ to see her. However, he wasn't sure where to find her, since he rarely saw her around school or in town, and even if he did manage to find her, what was he going to say?

After school, as Neji had closed his locker and was heading towards the doors to find his friends, he passed by the gym. He heard a game going on inside, and he curiously looked through the door window to see that it was soccer. _Of course_, he realized, _the girls' soccer team has to practice at some point._ He didn't know, however, if Hinata would be there; she had sprained her ankle, after all. He cautiously opened the double doors and stepped inside. He could clearly see the girls warming up, passing around balls to each other, wearing shirts with the school's logo on it. As he stepped further inside, he could see Hinata sitting on the bleachers, crutches across her lap.

He took a deep breath, and stepped onto the bleachers. She didn't notice him at first, because she was too busy gazing out at the girls on the field below her, but as he continued to walk up to her, her eyes widened. Flustered, she held up her hand to give him a little wave. As he returned it, he felt an emotion he hadn't felt in a very long time… shyness?

"H-Hi, Neji," she breathed.

"Hello," he replied. Unlike her, he could cover up his shyness well. "How are you doing?" he asked, nodding toward her bandaged ankle.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, looking down at it, as though just realizing it was there. "M-My ankle. Oh, it's doing much better, thank you," she answered. "Unfortunately, I'm not able to play," she said as she looked out at the rest of her team.

Neji nodded slowly, and sat down next to her, leaving plenty of distance between the two of them. She started playing with her fingers again. "So…" he began. "You play soccer. I never knew," he said, searching for something, anything to say to fill the silence.

"Yes," she replied. "I'm no good at it, though. I get nervous when I'm playing. That's probably why I ended up falling and spraining my ankle," she said, chuckling a bit.

Neji stared, noticing how different she seemed from what he remembered. When she was young, like most kids, she had been cocky. She seemed quite the opposite now. "Oh," he said. "That's unfortunate."

She nodded awkwardly. Someone called her name, and she turned to see the coach waving at her and telling her she could leave now. "Oh, that's my coach," she told Neji. "Even though I wasn't able to play, she let me watch some of the practice," she explained. Neji and Hinata walked down the bleachers together. Hinata was struggling on her crutches, but Neji didn't help her. They reached the ground and walked out of the exit together. Once they were outside the school, Hinata, cheeks flushed, said, "Can we sit down for a minute? I can't stand these stupid crutches…" They found a bench on the school's lawn and sat down.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I just can't seem to be able to use these crutches correctly! But if I walk without them, my ankle really hurts. I don't know why I can't just learn how to use them," Hinata said apologetically.

Neji cocked an eyebrow. "It's okay… you've never used them before. It's understandable."

"No, I keep causing people inconveniences. Like right now, you probably want to leave, but I made you stay here just because I can't learn how to use these things…," Hinata said, her voice casual, as though this was something normal for her to say.

Neji wondered if this was something she did often; apologize unnecessarily. "Why are you so hard on yourself?" he asked her, sounding almost like a challenge.

Hinata looked up at him, surprised. "Am I? I'm not, not really."

Neji remembered a time when everyone had been worried about _him_ having self-esteem issues. All things considered, that might have seemed more normal. However, he had always been a cocky kid; He knew he was smart. Hinata, being constantly praised by her mother, had had a high self-esteem when she was younger, too. However, everything about her now screamed the exact opposite; the way she sat, slouching, pressing her body together to take up the least amount of space possible, the way she played nervously with her fingers.

Neji gave her a skeptical look when she answered. Hinata seemed to want to change the subject. She said, "So, how have things been for you recently? Everyone around school talks about how smart you are. Have you taken your SAT's yet?"

"Yeah," he replied, eyes staring out in front of him at the empty lawn. "I took them last year. Haven't you taken them yet?" he asked her. He was a senior, one year older than Hinata.

She blushed. "No, not yet… I could have taken it a few months ago, but I was too nervous. I'm an awful test taker. I'll probably take it later this year. Do you know what college you're going to go to?"

"I want to go to one close to here," he said, "so I can still take care of my grandma. I don't want to leave her alone, or something might happen to her." With his words came a fresh wave of panic; was she okay right now?

"That's sweet," Hinata said, not seeming to notice Neji's sudden worry. "I think I might go to one that's far away from here."

Neji looked at her. "Why?"

"Oh… I don't know…" she stuttered, suddenly flustered. "I just kind of want to get away from here, and see how things are outside this town," she said finally, "and because I'm sure mom and dad and Hanabi can take care of themselves."

There was an awkward pause. Hinata seemed to be mentally punishing herself for mentioning their family. Neji had turned away again, looking into the distance. He had tensed as soon as he heard "mom and dad". However, something made him turn back at her. "Hanabi?" he asked, confused.

"Oh!" Hinata exclaimed. "Sorry, Hanabi's my younger sister. She was born a year after you left," she explained awkwardly. She knew her words were blunt, but didn't know how else to say it.

"Wow…" Neji said. "Another sister. I didn't even know." He had also noticed the way she said "my sister" instead of "our sister". That made him angry, but he tried to swallow the sudden emotion as he admitted that since he had never met her, Hinata couldn't really call her his sister as well.

"I know, it's crazy…" she said softly. "Our family has quite a history," she added with a slight chuckle, a weak attempt at lightening the somber mood.

"Indeed," Neji replied stonily. He could feel the anger inside him, boiling in his blood, but kept it under control; He couldn't lash out at Hinata again, not when they were finally on speaking terms. He tried to stop the emotion in its tracks and said, "So why did you join the soccer team if you don't like it?"

Hinata turned to him, surprised. "What makes you think I don't like it?"

"Oh… I don't know. I just assumed, I suppose. It just doesn't seem like you do," he replied.

She blushed. "Well, I suppose you're right. I don't, not really. It's a lot of work, and it tires me out," she explained. "I'm not the athletic type."

"So why did you join?" he asked her curiously.

Her nose wrinkled as she was thinking. "I guess… it was because I thought it would impress mom," she admitted sheepishly, shrugging, but keeping a wary eye on him to see how he would react.

"Why would you need to worry about that?" he asked, voice stoic, and not quite meeting Hinata's eye.

When she saw that he had not reacted negatively to the word "mom", she continued, "Well, you would have thought a parent would be proud of their daughter for being accepted into Belvedere, right? Well, mom seemed more hung up on the fact that it had taken me such a long time to finally get in. She didn't even seem that happy for me. And when my grades weren't as high as she wanted, I joined the team in hopes of impressing her," she explained.

"Oh," Neji said. He paused. "That sucks," he finally added.

Hinata nodded. She was staring up at Neji, bewildered by the fact that she was sharing something personal with him, when just the day before, he had told her to "go to hell". She had noticed that she didn't stutter so much when she was around him, which she found odd, considering being around him should make her stutter much more, as she would have to walk on eggshells around him, with their odd family history lurking behind them. However, she had the urge to talk to him with abandon, not having to worry about the wrong things to say. That was why she had mentioned their family so much; it seemed like Neji was handling it well.

"Hey… I have to go," Neji said suddenly, standing up.

"What?" Hinata said, hurriedly standing up with him and stumbling on her sprained ankle. "Why?"

Neji tried to give her a reassuring smile. "Sorry, I was enjoying our conversation, but I have to get back to my grandma soon," he said. "I have to make her dinner, and I want to check on her," he explained.

"Oh," Hinata said, staring up at Neji's smile, which she hadn't seen for so long. "Okay. I won't hold you up then," she added, smiling back. "And, yes, it was very nice talking to you."

Neji smiled back at her politely, and walked away. He walked farther away from the school, passing the bus station, taking the long way home. The sky was already turning dark, a result of the cold time of the year's limited daylight, and brown leaves on the ground were dancing by his feet. The air was getting colder as the sky was getting darker, and soon there were less people on the street. Neji turned to walk through a small ally, a shortcut to his grandma's apartment. He stopped suddenly in the middle and stood still.

All of a sudden, Neji started shaking, his hands balled into fists, and, with a roar, he punched the brick wall beside him. He kicked at the garbage cans, toppling them over, threw boxes and crates to the ground, and curled into a ball, pulling at his hair. He dug his nails into his scalp, leaving crescent-shaped marks, baring his teeth, waiting for the anger to pass. When it finally did, he collapsed to the floor that he had destroyed. He leaned against the wall.

He thought to himself, wondering why, if Hinata caused him so much suffering, he was so drawn to her?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

_"The great advantage of living in a family is that early lesson of life's essential unfairness." _

_- Nancy Mitford_

_---  
_

"Neji, honey, why are you bleeding?" Neji's grandma asked, worried, as she spotted Neji's bruised and bloody knuckles.

Neji, who had been trying to escape to the bathroom to wash his hands before he started dinner, stopped in the middle of the hallway, face unreadable. "Gym class," he responded. "We were playing basketball, and I ended up falling and scraping my hands. Whoops," he said, his voice casual. He threw in a smile at the end, making the lie amazingly convincing.

His grandma smiled, the concern now gone from her face, and said, "Oh, okay. Well make sure you put a band aid on it!" before walking into the living room.

Neji gave her a last smile, and then walked into the bathroom. He turned on the water in the sink and washed his bloody hands, wincing at the stinging pain. His knuckles were scraped pretty badly, so, like his grandma said, he put a band aid on each hand. As he looked into the mirror, he saw the content expression on his face; He felt satisfied. The blood was worth it for relieving himself of all the anger inside of him, about to burst like a pipe. As he walked out of the bathroom, he could feel his muscles inside him completely relaxed. He felt like lying down, so he walked into his bedroom and spread out on the bed.

The room was dark and, although it was early, Neji almost felt tired. He could hear his father walk into the room to say goodnight to him, so Neji replied, "Goodnight, dad…" before drifting off into a slight slumber. When he woke up there were tears on his face.

In the morning Neji felt uneasy. As he showered, got dressed, and went to school, he felt uneasy. The uneasiness built up and transformed into anger. During English class, he raised his hand and asked if he could be excused. His teacher let him go, and Neji left the classroom and walked into the boys' bathroom, locking himself in a stall. He leaned against the stall door. He suddenly fell to a crouch, holding his head in his hands. He bit his tongue, his lips, until they started to bleed a little. He held himself tightly and felt his arms, legs, and back shake with effort. His eyes were squeezed shut. He grinded his teeth. He pulled at his hair. He was fighting against the anger. A few minutes later, he was fine. He flushed the toilet to make his visit seem normal, slowly washed his hands, and walked out. These kinds of visits to the bathroom were normal for Neji, and they had started back when he was a freshman. Over the years they had become more frequent, increasing from once a month, to a few times a month, to once a week, until now, in his senior year, when he was visiting the bathroom almost every day, but still nobody noticed. In truth, no one had ever mentioned any strange behavior from Neji. Perhaps, to his peers and his teachers, he was only a nice little trophy for the school, his grades held up on a pedestal for the rest of the students to look up to.

As Neji walked out of the bathroom, he saw Hinata stumbling down the hall on her crutches that yesterday she had reprimanded herself for not being able to use. Neji's breath caught, and he hesitated before running after her. She heard the footsteps behind her and turned around slightly, looking scared, but her features softened when she saw who it was.

"Good morning, Neji," she said cheerily. However, as she said this, one of her crutches fell out of her grasp, and she nearly tumbled to the floor. Neji considered trying to catch her, but stayed where he was. Hinata regained her footing, and stood up again, an embarrassed smile on her face. "Whoops…"

"Are you okay?" Neji asked. Hinata nodded, but Neji rasied an eyebrow at her. "I guess you haven't mastered the crutches yet."

Hinata's cheeks flushed. "The problem seems to be with my ankle, not the crutches. I'm going to the nurse now, she's going to check on it," she explained.

"Oh," Neji said. "I hope it's alright."

That made Hinata smile. "I'm sure it is," she said, "I probably just don't know how to walk on it correctly. I'll be fine." But as soon as she said this, she winced with pain.

Neji felt something inside him that he could only trace back to the way he thought about his grandma… concern?

Neji and Hinata said goodbye to each other, and he walked back to class while Hinata continued to the nurse. When he got back to English class, the lesson was nearly over, and he had a hard time paying attention. Neji felt relief when the bell rang, announcing the end of class, and hurried out of the door. It was lunch time now, and Neji was looking forward to being outside of the claustrophobic walls of school, at least for 45 minutes. As he left the classroom, he felt a hand pull him back a little.

"Hey, Neji," Tenten said. "Do you want to have lunch together today?"

"Oh… sure," Neji answered.

Tenten seemed happy. "Let's go outside," she suggested, and the two headed out of the school. They found an empty picnic table and sat on top of it, feet resting on the seats. They started eating, making small talk about school and friends. Neji liked being outside, despite the cold of the mid-February wind. Tenten, on the other hand, was shivering. She pulled her sweater tighter around her, and moved in a little closer to Neji.

"Hey, Neji…" she started, "What do you think of me?" she asked.

Neji didn't look at her, but stared straight. "You're my friend," he said.

"We've known each other for a while now… and we've messed around before," she said, cheeks turning pink. "I really like being your friend, but I was wondering if you'd be interesting in… taking it to the next level?"

Neji felt a little uncomfortable, and still didn't look at her. Tenten was on his right side, his blind side, so he couldn't even see her out of the corner of his vision. He felt blinded from her entirely; even at that moment, he seemed to be forgetting what she looked like, but still he didn't check to see. "Well…" he started, "I'm really not a relationship kind of person."

"Oh…" Tenten said. "Okay. That's alright, then."

Neji tried to block out the pain from her voice. He changed the subject, which she seemed grateful for, to their English homework. He felt a little guilty, but her words did not surprise Neji; He supposed he had always known how she felt. At least his response had been truthful; He had not been in a relationship for quite some time now. He couldn't even remember the last time he had been interested in a girl.

Neji and Tenten's lunch eventually ended, and Neji walked back inside to go to his locker before his afternoon classes. He couldn't help but keep an eye out for a certain silver-eyed girl everywhere he went. He found it hard to concentrate in his classes again, and chose to stare out the window instead. Tenten, who would usually at this point ask him if he was alright, stayed silent. That made Neji feel guilty and uncomfortable, and when class ended, he walked out quickly without stopping. He felt discouraged when he walked through the halls, and, again, didn't see Hinata anywhere.

He decided to check the nurse's office. When he walked in, it was empty aside from the nurse sitting at her desk. He looked around the room once more to be sure, then turned back to walk out.

"Hey…" the nurse said. "Are you looking for Hinata Hyuuga?" she asked him.

He was surprised. "Um… yes," he replied. "How did you know?"

"You look just like her. Like twins," she said, staring at him. "Anyway… Hinata left a while ago," she told him. "She was admitted into the hospital."

Neji's eyes widened. "The hospital?" he exclaimed.

She nodded sympathetically. "There was something wrong with her ankle. Sorry."

Neji's mouth hung open, and he hurriedly thanked the nurse and ran out of the office. As he exited the school, he stared wide-eyed at the floor, wondering what to do. He didn't have Hinata's phone number or any other way of getting into contact with her, and, if there was a serious problem with her leg, she might not be at school tomorrow. He didn't want to wait; he wanted to find out _now_ that she was okay.

"Neji, you want to play football with us?" one of his friends asked him. He took a look at Neji's face and added, "Hey, man, what happened? You alright?"

Neji looked up at him. "My sister is in the hospital," he answered solemnly.

"Oh, shit, I'm sorry. I didn't even know you had a sister."

Neji hurried off to take the bus back home. As soon as it was his stop, he quickly got off the bus, annoying people along the way that he had pushed, and entered his apartment building. He pressed the button on the elevator for the garage, where his car would be waiting, but then he stopped himself. _I have to check on grandma, _he thought. Neji felt immediately shamed that he almost passed through his own house without even thinking about her, and took the elevator upstairs instead.

"Grandma?" he called into the apartment as he opened the door. He let out a huge breath of relief when she answered him. He checked on her, and went into the kitchen to make a snack for her. He felt guilty as he told her he was going out, and would be home in time for dinner.

"I love you, honey," she said to him as he turned the door handle.

He stopped and slowly turned back around. _Love_… he thought. _How can I even be sure that I love grandma, if I've never loved anyone else before, and I can't ever bring myself to love a girl or a friend?_ In spite of his thoughts, he repeated the words back to her.

Neji was impatient as the elevator moved at an annoyingly slow pace downstairs to the garage. He got into his car and started driving toward the hospital. He realized that he was on the same path he had been on just a few nights ago, except this time it was his own decision. His irritation increased as he was slowed down by the cars around him, growing higher with every red light or truck that went in front of him.

When he finally parked outside of the hospital, he hurried out of the car and into the hospital lobby. It looked exactly the same, and the lady behind the desk recognized him, and told him where Hinata's room was.

"You should hurry, visiting hours end soon," she told him.

Neji, yet again, waited impatiently as the elevator stopped slowly on each floor before finally opening on the 6th. He found Hinata's room and when he walked in, she was talking to a doctor. He looked up and frowned at Neji, saying, "Visiting hours are almost over," sternly.

"Um, I'll just be a second," he told him. The doctor left, leaving Hinata and Neji alone. She was sitting up in the hospital bed, which was right next to the window, wearing white pajamas.

"Neji," Hinata said, smiling hugely. "How'd you know I was here?"

"Oh, um…," Neji stuttered. What was he supposed to say? "I heard around school that you had to come here, and I was passing by to pick up something for my grandma, so I thought I'd say hi."

"That's so thoughtful," Hinata said, beaming.

"Yeah…" Neji mumbled. "So, what happened? Why are you here?"

Hinata's smile faded a little. "It turns out there was more to my ankle than just a sprain; it was actually broken. And since I've been walking on it these past few days, it hurts a lot now, so I'm going to rest here for a few days I think."

Neji nodded, trying not to appear too concerned, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"Do you want to sit down?" Hinata asked him, gesturing to the free space on her bed.

Neji hesitated before walking over and sitting at the end of the white hospital bed. Hinata was looking at him shyly, cheeks seemingly permanently pink, and wouldn't quite give him eye contact. He wondered if looking at his blind eye upset her. "How did your mom react?" he asked her.

Hinata did not miss the way he said "your mom", as though she was not her son, too. "She was kind of upset," she admitted.

"Did she yell at you?" he asked, remembering the way their mom had screamed at him whenever he did anything she deemed wrong.

Hinata shook her head. "No. She never yells at me."

Neji stiffened. He was surprised that he could still feel his childhood jealousy towards her.

"We don't really talk that much, to be honest," Hinata admitted. "We only talk when we're studying together. She stopped by here a few hours ago to talk to the doctor, and she just gave me a look like she was upset. But she didn't say anything." All of a sudden, Hinata got a dreamy look in her eye, and she stared out the window. "I was born in this hospital," she said.

"I was born here, too," Neji said, "It never occurred to me."

"I thought of in the elevator coming up this morning. I was back here to get my tonsils out, though. Didn't you ever get your tonsils out?"

"No, they never bothered me."

Hinata sat in her bed with her hands folded in her lap, and continued to gaze out the window. "Look at all those people down there. They look so small, almost like ants. Do you ever get the feeling that's all we are? Just ants?"

Neji paused. "Sometimes," he said.

"I told that to mom once."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing. I told you, she never talks to me unless we're studying together. But a few days later, she told me something. She said that humans have one mission in life; to take what God hands us with and shut up."

"Do you believe that?"

Hinata shrugged. "I've never said that to anyone before," she said softly. "I was always wondering who I would tell it to. If my parents had been in town that night, and you had never picked me up from the hospital, I would still be wondering."

Neji stared. Soon visiting hours were over, and they had to say goodbye. When Neji stood up to leave, he hesitated, and could see Hinata doing the same. Neji almost considered giving her a quick hug or kissing her cheek goodbye, like most friends or family did, but stayed where he was.

"I'll come visit you tomorrow," he told her.

"Okay," she replied, smiling.

He waved to her and walked out of the room. He got in his car and drove home.

--

As always, 5 reviews = chapter 5 :].


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

_"If you don't believe in ghosts, you've never been to a family reunion."_

_- Ashleigh Brilliant_

_---  
_

Neji heard his dad come into his room to wake him up on that Saturday morning. However, when he opened his eyes, he realized it was just his alarm clock. He cursed when he realized his had forgotten to turn off his alarm for 7 am. He shut it off and closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. He sighed and got out of bed and walked into the kitchen, deciding to make his grandma breakfast since she would be waking up soon.

"You're up early today, honey," she said as she walked slowly into the kitchen from her bedroom. She was wearing a nightgown and her white hair was messy.

Neji nodded and continued to fix her oatmeal. As she was eating, he made himself cereal, and they watched the morning news together. Neji was bored by it, but didn't know what else to do so early in the morning. He eventually went back to his room to bring out his homework. His grandma gave him a look of pride as she watched him work diligently, however, Neji knew where he truly wanted to be, and he wondered what time visiting hours started.

"Are you going out with your friends today?" his grandma asked pleasantly.

Neji checked his phone; several missed calls. "Um… yeah," he said. "Something like that. Hey, grandma, do you happen to know what time the hospital lets patients have visitors?"

She looked at him queerly. "I'm not sure… probably around 9 or 10. Why do you want to know?" she asked.

Neji shrugged. "I'm visiting a friend there."

"Oh?" his grandma said. "Who? Is he hurt?"

"Just a friend from school. I'm sure he's fine."

Neji waited until 11 to start heading over to the hospital; there was no need to seem too eager. When he stepped out of his car in front of the hospital, he walked into the lobby and straight to the elevator, taking it up to Hinata's floor. The elevator stopped on the second floor, and a doctor walked inside. He looked at Neji curiously.

"Excuse me, but do I know you?" he asked.

Neji glanced at him. "I don't think so."

"I think you were one of my patients before."

"I think you're mistaken."

The doctor's eyes traveled to Neji's right eye and widened in realization. "Yes, I remember you. You were just a little boy when I treated you. You were the one with the glass in your eye."

Neji felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. He stared at the doctor, eyes large. When the elevator reached the sixth floor, Neji rushed out, bumping into several people waiting for it, and hurried away. He reached Hinata's door and took a deep breath before knocking on it politely and stepping inside.

"Hey," Hinata said cheerfully.

"Hey," he replied. "How are you?"

"Pretty good," she answered, "although I'm a little bored. I'm glad you visited. Are you okay, by the way? You look a little shaken."

Neji waved her question away with his hand and sat down on her bed. "When do you return home?" he asked her.

"In a few days," she replied. "I would have been able to leave immediately if I hadn't been walking on a broken ankle for the past week," she giggled nervously. "It's nothing new to me, though. I've stayed in this hospital before."

"You're clumsy?" Neji asked.

Hinata shrugged. "Somewhat. It's mostly due to me straining myself. Hanabi, although she is still young, is already great at sports, as well as academics. I'm trying to get on her level," she explained, chuckling, as though trying to make the words lighter.

Neji stared at her; he found it hard to imagine having the need to match up to someone anymore. "I'm sure you're doing fine," he said without any real empathy in his voice.

Hinata nodded slowly. Neji could see that she wanted him to know more. "_Are_ you doing fine?" he asked, humoring her. "Hanabi is just a little girl... surely she is not outshining you."

"Age is nothing but a number," Hinata responded with a dark laugh. "At the meek age of 7, Hanabi has already skipped a grade and is on the top of her class every year. She is also the star player on several teams at her elementary school. She is not as brilliant as you, of course, but mother can already see her potential, which is unfortunetly greater than mine."

A part of Neji felt sorry for Hinata, but another, greater part of him felt triumphant.

Hinata glanced up at her brother's face, lips trembling, and looked back down. "I don't mean to dump all my worries on you... I understand that this is probably not something you want to hear, or maybe it is, because... because..."

"It's the same thing I experienced?" Neji finished for her, voice cold.

He expected Hinata to look away and be embarassed, but she shyly glanced at him again. "Yes..." she said softly.

"Well... I escaped that life. One day you will, too," he said.

Hinata paused and shook her head. She looked at him sadly. "I don't think so... you have your grandma, but I have no other family except for them. I'm stuck."

Neji frowned. She had _him_, didn't she? He didn't see anyone else coming to visit her in the hospital.

At that moment, they heard a knock on the door. "C-Come in," Hinata called quietly.

The door opened, and in stepped the spikey-blonde-haired boy Neji had seen around school. Today he was wearing bright orange clothes, a loud contrast to the plain white hospital room. "Hinata!" he yelled, bounding up to her and giving her a hug.

"N-Naruto..." she mumbled when he hugged her too tightly.

He let go and turned to Neji. "Who are _you_?" he asked bluntly.

Neji was irritated. He was sure he was a much more popular student at school, and yet it was _him_ being asked to identify himself?

"Naruto, this is Neji, my older brother," Hinata said. Naruto stared at him in astonishment. "Neji, this is Naruto. He goes to school with us."

Neji feigned a disinterested face. "I've never seen him before," he lied, looking away.

Naruto looked at him for a moment, then turned back to Hinata. "I've missed you so much!" he exclaimed, hugging her again. Hinata's cheeks became red as she mumbled a "me, too".

Neji was amazed; so loser boyfriend was_ actually_ her boyfriend?

When Naruto was finished, he sat down next to Hinata without invitation. He held her hand and turned to Neji. "I always thought you guys were cousins," he said.

They weren't sure how to explain that one. "Nope..." Hinata said quietly. "We're not."

Naruto glanced at her suspiciously. "Hm... well, I've never seen you two with each other. Isn't that a little odd, being brother and sister and all?"

Neji arched an eyebrow. "As far as I'm aware, siblings are not inclined to hang out on a best-friend basis. Am I wrong?" he said defensively.

"I wouldn't know. I don't have any siblings, and my parents are dead," Naruto replied casually, his voice not changing as he said his shocking confession.

Neji was taken aback, but narrowed his eyes as he wondered why he would so easily admit such a tragedy. He was at a loss for words; what was he supposed to say, _"that's great, my family beat the shit out of me so I abandoned them?"_ Hinata looked embarrassed. She was averting her eyes from both of them, which Naruto seemed to notice, his response being to put his arm around her. Neji could have also sworn he saw his hand grip hers more tightly.

"So... now that we're all here together, we can hang out," Hinata said, a weak attempt at lightening the mood.

Neji could almost feel Naruto pushing him away with his eyes. Neji recognized that he wanted to be alone with his girlfriend, which was understandable. Yet, Neji felt angered. His cell phone started ringing, and Neji recognized the number as one of his friends. "Actually," he said, "I have to go now. I'm meeting my friend."

"Oh..." Hinata said, seeming disappointed. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow." She stopped herself. "Well, maybe not, since I won't be in school..."

Neji smiled faintly. "I'll come visit you again," he promised. Hinata smiled widely. Neji nodded goodbye to her and Naruto, who was busy trying to pull Hinata into his lap, and walked out of the room. He pulled out his phone and, without saying hello, said, "What are we doing tonight? I need to get out of this damn place."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

_"We all grow up with the weight of history on us. Our ancestors dwell in the attics of our brains as they do in the spiraling chains of knowledge hidden in every cell of our bodies."_

_- Shirley Abbott_

_---  
_

It was 7 o'clock at night, and Hinata was sitting in her hospital bed, worried, because Neji hadn't come to visit her yet. Naruto, who had cut school to hang out with her all day, had left a few hours ago. During the time when Naruto was with her, she had been worried that Neji would walk in, and the tension that had occurred the first time they met would arise again. However, once Naruto left, she became even more anxious waiting for Neji.

As soon as she was wondering whether or not Neji was coming at all, she heard a soft knock at the door. She didn't even have to say "come in" before the door slowly opened and Neji sauntered in. Hinata was amazed at how much this simple gesture revealed about him; if she had been the one knocking on the door, she would have waited until the person gave her full permission to go inside. Neji's confidence was clearly much higher than hers, as he walked inside without hesitation.

"Hello," he said, seeming relieved when he saw her alone. "I'm a little late."

Hinata shook away all her previous worries with her head. "Not at all," she said. She gestured for Neji to sit. He took a seat at the end of her bed. Neither teen looked at the other, as though trying to conceal their happiness at the other's company.

"So," Neji started, "You're going to miss school tomorrow."

She nodded. "Yeah, unfortunately. I hope I don't get too far behind in class."

"You'll be fine," he assured her. Hinata felt her face heat up, finding his words out of place for their distant relationship. "What classes do you have?"

"Um…" she said. "I have Earth Science, French, U.S. History, and Advanced Composition."

Hinata saw a ghost of a smile on Neji's lips. "Advanced comp?" he said. "So you're good at English?"

Hinata nodded shyly. "Yes. I like reading and writing."

"That'll look really good for college," he said. "I'm in it, too, but I don't care much for reading and writing."

"Yeah, you don't seem like the reader type," Hinata giggled.

"What do I seem like?" he asked.

"I don't know… probably an athlete," she replied. She smiled. "I guess we're opposites."

"Perhaps," he said, the corner of his lips smiling slightly. He paused, and looked down. He waited a moment before saying, "Mom doesn't like reading." He slowly looked up at her.

Hinata, taken aback, waited before saying anything. "No…" she finally mumbled. "She doesn't. She says that words distort what the heart truly feels. Maybe that's why she doesn't talk much, either."

Neji regretted mentioning their mother. The hurt was obvious on Hinata's face. However, Neji knew that Hinata was different from him; He did not want to talk about their mom, and, for some reason, she did.

"I don't think I agree with that, though…" Hinata continued, further confirming Neji's thoughts. "Without words, we would be like cavemen and animals."

Neji paused to think before he answered. "I don't think the human mind is developed enough to be able to express their thoughts in words effectively," he said softly.

"Sometimes just the act of using words can say a lot," she replied, her voice nearly a whisper.

There was silence, and then Neji said slowly, "Does Mom talk to Hanabi?"

Neji could see the answer on Hinata's face before she said anything. "Yes," she answered. "Yes, she does."

Neji was confused. "Why would she talk to one daughter, and ignore the other?"

"That's just the way it is," Hinata said. "I think she loves us equally… she just treats us differently. That's all."

Neji stared at her. "There is obviously something deeper happening if she can so easily pretend to only have one daughter!"

"She knows she has two daughters!" Hinata said, a little defensively. "She must have a reason for doing what she's doing."

Neji shrugged. "Maybe."

Hinata glanced at him. "Every mother loves all her kids equally, even if it doesn't seem that way." Her words didn't seem to be about Hanabi and her anymore.

Neji looked away. "That's not always the case." He tried to cover up the pain in his voice.

Hinata's face looked strained as she fought to find the right words to use. "No, Neji…" she started. He turned to look at her, surprised at the emotion in her voice. "You don't know how much things changed when you left," she said, head bowed. "When you left, mom didn't know who else to take out her anger on. At first it was dad, but then he threatened to leave, so she turned to me."

Neji's eyes widened at her confession.

"She didn't yell at me or hit me like you… but she stopped talking to me, and would hug and kiss Hanabi in front of me, as though trying to make me jealous. And with every bad grade I received, or with every mistake I made, she looked at me in such a way that made me feel like a failure."

Neji rushed to her side when he heard the lump in her throat start to choke her words. She was staring at her lap, but he saw the tears in her eyes. She looked away from him, not wanting him to see her face, but at the same time reached out to him with her pale hand. She looked at that hand for a moment, as though not remembering the decision to move it. She touched Neji's arm gently, then stopped herself again. Neji could tell that she was trying hard to do something, so he leaned toward her and let her rest her head on his shoulder.

She started crying harder, pressing her face against Neji's shoulder to muffle the noise. She wrapped her arms around him and sat forward, leaning into him. He didn't move at all, but let her cry freely. Hinata wasn't hurt at the lack of affection from him, and was surprised that he even let her hold him in the first place.

As Neji let himself be held by Hinata, he realized he hadn't been held by anyone in his family since his grandmother in over 6 years. He fought the lump in his throat as he thought about how much he had always wanted a sister. He hesitantly wound his arms around Hinata. Her crying seemed to slow down as she realized that he was embracing her as well. That made Neji smile, and he fought the urge to hold her more tightly, because he felt like a hug wasn't enough; He felt the overwhelming need to be close to her, like she hadn't ever been gone. He did not know how to make up for 6 years in the blink of an eye.

"Why did you have to leave?" Hinata whimpered, barely audible, still pressed against Neji's shoulder.

That made Neji's heart ache. "You know I had to."

Hinata pulled away from Neji, wiping the remaining tears away with her pale fingers. "You don't know how lucky you are," she said. Neji was surprised at the bitterness in her voice. "You live a free life now. You don't ever have to worry about mother again. You live with someone who loves you and treats you right. Your problems are gone."

Neji tensed. "You don't know about my problems," he said slowly.

Hinata rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, I realize everyone has their own problems. But I believe the worst kinds of them are _family_ problems. And that you don't have to deal with anymore."

Neji looked away from her. "My life is nowhere near free."

Hinata cocked her head. "So what kind of problems do you have?"

"I don't have to explain myself," Neji said strongly. "I came from the very same family as you, so how can your life be worse than mine?"

Hinata sighed. "Okay. I'm sorry. I'm not judging you."

Neji nodded slowly. They looked away from each other for a moment, and then he stood up.

"I'm sorry, I have to go home," he said.

Hinata looked hurt, but nodded. Neji looked at her for a moment longer, then sighed. He took out a paper from his school bag, ripped a piece off, and wrote something on it. "Here…" he said, handing it to Hinata. She took it and looked at it curiously. "It's my phone number," he said. "Just in case you ever want to talk some more."

His firm expression softened and he looked for her reaction. She stared at the paper for a moment, and then looked up at him, nodding. "Thank you," she said, smiling sincerely. Neji couldn't help but smile back at her, then with a wave of his hand, he was out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

_"A piece of glass on a family portrait always cracked but never completely shattered."_

_Jalina J. Blumberg_

_---  
_

Neji knew that Hinata had a lot to say. She was constantly thinking about her family and wanted to tell someone, but no one would listen, not even her loser boyfriend. That is why he gave her his phone number; He had a feeling he was the only person she could talk to. However, he was surprised when Hinata called him later that same night.

"Hello?" he said into his cell phone.

"Hi, it's me, Hinata," she replied breathlessly. "I'm sorry, did I call you too late?"

"No, not at all," he said. "Although I didn't expect you to call so soon."

"I'm sorry!" she apologized. "I can call later if you want..."

"It's fine, don't worry about it," he chuckled. He felt bad for making her nervous, so he added, "I'm glad you called."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I had a feeling you wanted to talk some more." He heard her giggle nervously. "Am I right?"

"Well, I suppose you are, yes," she answered. "I don't mean to dump all my problems on you. It's just a bit overwhelming, having a brother all of a sudden. Brings back a lot of memories." Her voice was suddenly serious.

"Hopefully not painful memories," he said softly.

"Well, those are the ones I remember the best, unfortunately," she said, "from when you were living with us."

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry, but you know its true..."

"I understand. So, go on, why are you thinking about unpleasant memories?"

He heard Hinata sigh. "Well, I..." she stopped herself. She giggled nervously. "I'm sorry; this is so weird, spilling out my heart to you..."

Neji paused, unsure of what to say. "Well..." he started. "I am your older brother, technically. So, I suppose you can just pretend that we're normal brother and sister, and I'm giving you advice."

There was silence on the other end, and then Hinata laughed.

"What's so funny?" Neji asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing… that just sounds nice, that's all."

Neji felt a few butterflies in his stomach as he heard the sincerity in her voice. He decided that whatever she was about to tell him, that he would answer with honesty, leaving their rough relationship in the past, even just for a moment. "So, tell me, what's on your mind?"

Neji heard Hinata take a deep breath. "Do you… get scared easily, Neji?"

He was taken aback. "Um, no, not really," he answered. "Why?"

"I always thought I was normal…" she began. "I always thought that everyone gets scared, so everything I'm feeling is just typical."

"Everyone does get scared at some point," Neji assured her. "It's human nature."

"Even you?"

Neji paused. "Um, yeah. Everyone does. Horror movies scare people, bugs scare people…"

"That's what I always thought, too! But recently, Naruto has been telling me certain things… he tells me that my fear is abnormal. That I shouldn't be getting as scared as I always am."

Neji frowned at the mention of the spikey-haired boy with the too-bright colors. "Naruto is your boyfriend, right?" he asked her.

"Y-yeah…"

"Well, then, it isn't his place to tell you that you are abnormal. What kind of guy would tell their girlfriend that she is strange?" Neji's voice was angry.

"Well, he's not exactly telling me that I'm strange… He is just really concerned about me," she responded.

"But he's making you worry about yourself," Neji argued, "and that isn't right."

"So, you think I'm normal?"

"Of course."

Neji could almost hear the smile in Hinata's voice as let out a huge breath and said, "Wow, that's a relief. We've reunited hardly a week ago, and I've already spilled out so much to you. I was worried you might think I was weird."

"You're my sister…" Neji wondered why that word felt odd on his tongue. "I could never think that."

"Thank you so much," she said emotionally. She paused. "Oh, I'm so sorry… I have to go now. Someone else wants to use the phone."

"I'll visit you tomorrow after school," he promised her.

"Okay," she replied. There was noise in the background, and Neji heard Hinata say "_I'm almost done_…" away from the phone. "Goodnight, Neji."

He was about to respond to her when he paused, frowned, and listened closely to the phone. He could hear a voice, one that did not belong to Hinata, yelling, and then the line went dead. He sat in place, holding the phone to his ear, frozen; Had he just heard his _mother_?

---

"_Look, Mom, I got a 99 on my test today," Neji said, holding up the paper reluctantly for his mother, who was cooking dinner, to see. She didn't say anything for a while, and then slowly turned around. _

"_I got a call from your school this morning," she said, voice low. _

_Neji quickly ran through all of his classes in his mind, knowing he had at least a 90 in every subject. He hadn't cut class lately; he hadn't talked back to any teachers… what could be the problem? _

"_And they told me that you put a boy in the_ hospital_," she finished, voice a dangerous whisper._

_Neji cursed to himself. So the kid he had beat up last week had ratted him out. He braced himself for a slap from his mom, squeezing his eyes shut, but was unprepared for the pain that he felt when his mom smacked the side of his face with a pan. _

Although Neji had uneasy dreams that night, he was unsurprised as he woke up half-blind, a vacation from most mornings he had been experiencing lately. Perhaps finally after 6 years of being half-blind, his subconscious was finally getting used to it.

At school, Tenten seemed to have forgiven Neji for his blatant rejection, and she was sitting next to him again. However, when she asked him to help her with her homework after school, he refused, telling her that he had a meeting with his guidance counselor.

"A meeting?" Tenten repeated, eyes narrowing. "Really? Are you sure you just don't want to spend time with me?"

Neji's mouth hung agape for a moment in disbelief, but before he could answer, she had turned on her heel and was stalking away. He was irritated as he continued his way to the guidance counselor's office, and knocked a bit too loudly on the door. He heard a surprised "come in" and entered the room.

"Are we having a bad day, Neji?" the man behind the desk asked him.

Neji, who would have typically found such a question demeaning, had hardly heard him. He was, instead, staring at the blonde boy in the seat in front of the desk.

"No," was his delayed response.

"Okay," the guidance counselor responded. "One second, Neji, let me get your transcripts," he said as he stood up and left the room.

Neji took a seat next to Naruto, the only other seat in the room. He looked straight ahead, not acknowledging the spiky-haired boy, but it didn't seem to deflate his enthusiasm, because he yelled out "Hey, Neji!"

When Neji merely nodded his head as a response, Naruto frowned and continued talking at a too-loud volume. "Aren't you going to say hi? Hinata wants us to be friends, you know."

"Hello," Neji said quickly, almost condescendingly.

Naruto took a long pause before starting again, "Oh, come now Neji… Don't tell me you're still pissed at me for taking your crayons."

Neji narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me?" he said, finally turning to look at him.

Naruto was grinning, as though amused by Neji's confusion. "A.J. West Elementary school, 5th grade? You don't remember me?"

Neji's pale eyes narrowed further in disbelief. "That was _you_?" he asked.

Naruto nodded. "You were the scariest thing I'd ever seen, and I've been in quite a few fist fights as a kid. I thought you were going to kill me!" he laughed, sounding amused and light-hearted, as though he had discovered that they had been in the same club in Pre-K or something equally trivial. "Funny that we'd end up being friends in high school, eh?"

Neji was not sure who Naruto was calling a _friend_. Neji's memory of the actual fight that he and Naruto had been in – or, rather, a beat down - when they were 10 years old was quite fuzzy. However, Neji remembered the beating he had gotten from his mother when she got the call from his school and found out.

"I don't hang out with grade 11's," Neji replied, looking straight ahead again. He had taken an instant dislike to Naruto since last week, when they had been introduced in the hospital by Hinata. He was not sure why, exactly, just that everything about him he found overwhelmingly irritating, and that was all the explanation he needed to ignore him.

"You hang out with Hinata," Naruto argued.

"She's my _sister_," Neji answered, making his voice as condescending as possible.

"I've never seen you around her before," Naruto continued, "and I've been dating her for 6 whole months."

Neji cringed at the mention of their relationship. "Which is a complete mystery to me."

"Huh?"

"I don't know why she would be dating someone like you, when her intelligence and beauty is probably double of yours."

"Intelligence and beauty? How odd of you to be speaking that way of her. The last she told me, her whole family, including her estranged half-brother, was constantly putting her down and making her feel like dirt."

Neji whirled around to face him, furious. "You don't know _anything_ about our family, and you never will know the half of it, so why don't you do Hinata a favor and _leave her alone_."

Naruto, taken aback by Neji's anger, leaned back into his chair. "Oh, I don't know…" he started, voice calm. "She seems to like me," he finished with a smug smile.

Neji felt himself shake with anger, but before he could say anything, the guidance counselor was back in the room.

"You boys been getting to know each other?" he asked cheerfully. When they did not answer, he dismissed Naruto, and, when the blonde boy had left the room, much to Neji's dismay, he sat at his desk, shuffling report cards and college applications. Neji fought the urge to jump out of his seat and follow Naruto and repeat what he had done to him 7 years ago.

"So, Neji! You've been having a great senior year, and your grades are superb, as usual. Have you thought about what colleges you want to apply to?"

Neji's face was dark with anger, his voice low and dangerous. "No."

The counselor looked surprised. "Um… are you not feeling well? We can continue this another time…"

"Thanks," Neji said quickly, taking that as a dismissal, and hastily left his chair and the room, ignoring the man's shouts after him to plan another appointment. He glared down the hallways, wondering which way Naruto had gone. He walked out of the school building, and searched for the spiky blonde hair on the lawn or in a bench. He didn't see him.

When Neji accepted that Naruto was long gone, he took a deep breath and told himself to calm down; it would be hard to explain to Hinata why he had beaten up her boyfriend in the first place. But he couldn't help but shake off Naruto's words. _"Oh, I don't know… she seems to like me." _Why had he said that? It was almost like he was trying to make Neji jealous, which was very odd, because they were _siblings_. So why had Naruto felt threatened?

Neji had promised to meet Hinata after school, so he took the bus straight home. After checking on his grandma he hopped in his car to the hospital, hoping that Naruto would not be there waiting for him. Neji told himself that he should feel sorry for the guy; maybe Hinata never called him at night, or cried in his arms. Maybe there was reason for Naruto to feel threatened. Neji smirked at the thought.

When Neji stepped out of the car, he kept an eye out for blue eyes, like the ones Naruto had. He found it funny that Naruto had blue eyes, and that he and Hinata also had blue eyes; Silver was like gray, and gray was a shade of blue, right? Their mother also had blue, or silver, eyes.

Neji stopped in front of the hospital, suddenly scared. Hinata had described their mother to be completely uncaring towards her, but she had to have visited her at least once while she was staying here. All these days that Neji had been opening the door to see Hinata, his mother could have been right there, waiting. His mother could be there _right now, _waiting.

There were so many blue eyes to be wary of.

Neji took a deep breath before knocking on Hinata's door. He heard her say "come in", and he opened the door slowly, only a few inches at first. When he saw that she was alone, he opened it completely and stepped inside. Her bed was empty, and he was startled as she saw her standing up, packing her few belongings into a bag.

"Hinata, should you be on your feet?" he asked, alarmed.

She stood straight up, dressed in every day clothes, with a cast still on her right ankle. "No need to look so worried," she giggled. Neji's cheeks became hot. "I'm getting discharged today!" she added, smiling hugely.

"Oh, that's good news."

"Yes. I can go home as soon as the doctor gets some papers signed."

"Um…" Neji's voice was suddenly nervous. "Will your… mom be picking you up?" he finally asked, looking down.

Hinata turned to him, surprised. "Oh… um, no one has called her yet, but I still need a family member to bring me home…" She stumbled over her words awkwardly.

"Well, since I'm already here, I can drive you home."

"Really? That would be great, thanks."

Neji let out a sigh of relief that their mother wasn't coming, and now that Hinata was out of the hospital, he would never be in a situation to see her again.

"Let me help you with that…" he offered, and aided her in packing the rest of her things. It felt good to be doing something together and for their bodies to be so close without a dramatic situation unfolding, like when she had been crying in her hospital bed. Instead, this was something very casual, that normal friends could do together.

Someone knocked on the door, and the doctor walked in, holding an armful of papers. "Hello, Hinata. Everything is ready to go. Should we call your mom now?" he asked.

Hinata shook her head. "No, that's okay, doctor, my brother is here to bring me home," she said.

The doctor eyed Neji, accepting their striking resemblance as enough proof that they were related. "Great. Remember to be careful during soccer from now on," were his last words before leaving them alone.

"The good news is that I don't need to use crutches anymore," Hinata said cheerfully. Neji grabbed her bag and carried it for her as they both left the room. "And the cast will probably come off soon."

"I'm glad to hear that," Neji replied politely.

They entered the elevator quietly. Once at the ground floor they stepped out and Neji lead her, much like his first time retrieving her from the hospital, out of the big, white building. His car was parked in the same place, but this time, Hinata was strong enough to help herself into it. Neji stepped into the car slowly, almost with caution, because his mind was stuck in the past again; this time, the past was the first night he had laid eyes on Hinata since childhood.

Hinata was struggling with the seatbelt again. Neji almost wondered if the night was replaying itself before his eyes. Did this mean that nothing had changed since then? Hinata finally snapped the seatbelt into place and leaned back in the car seat comfortably. Neji oddly felt relief, and continued driving.

"Will you be in school tomorrow?" Neji asked her.

Hinata nodded her head. "Yes."

They didn't talk much for the rest of the ride, but that didn't make Neji feel uncomfortable. They were both content with silence. Neji remembered what Hinata had said, "_words distort what the heart truly feels"._

Neji reflected back to Naruto, because he did not seem like the kind of person to be content with just silence. He was constantly talking, even yelling sometimes. He was a sharp contrast to Hinata's polite and soft-spoken nature. Neji wondered how Hinata and her boyfriend could possibly have a conversation, with one person shouting and the other whispering.

Neji turned to look at his half-sister. She was far too gentle for someone like Naruto. She had been raised by her mother to fear words. If she couldn't speak with the person most intimate with her, how could she expect herself to speak with anyone else? She needed someone that could enjoy silence with her.

Neji turned the corner in his car and the Hyuuga house came into view. It was a rather large house, in the rich part of town. It was painted completely white, with black shutters on the windows and a black door. It was exactly as Neji had remembered. When he had drove Hinata home the first night, it had been too dark and he had been too angry to truly _look_ at his childhood home. He had always found the house to be quite appropriate for the Hyuuga family; White and black. Pale skin; pale eyes. Dark hair; dark souls.

Neji had always wondered why certain girls like Tenten found him attractive, and why Naruto found Hinata attractive. Neji had mentioned Hinata's beauty earlier that day, but, if he was being completely honest with himself, everyone in his family – himself, Hinata, his mother – were rather creepy looking. They had always reminded him of the Adams family. In the family portrait, he recalled everyone staring vacantly into the camera, the same blank silver eyes and skin that blended into the white background. He assumed Hanabi, the little sister he never met, now looked the same way. The only person who ever stood out was his step-father, Hinata's dad, with his dull brown eyes and hair.

"Thanks for the ride," Hinata said.

Neji nodded in response and pulled the car over at the curb of the block, not wanting to get too close to the house. They stayed in their seats for a moment.

"So, I suppose I'll see you at school tomorrow," Hinata said. "Maybe we could have lunch together or something."

Neji shook his head reluctantly. He had been ditching his friends a lot lately, and didn't want to repeat the scene Tenten had made after school. "Maybe we could… see each other after class. Somewhere other than the hospital or school."

Hinata was playing with her fingers nervously, but was smiling. "Sure. I'll meet you outside on the benches."

They waved briefly at each other before Hinata slowly stepping out of the car. Neji watched her inch down the street towards her house. His gaze lingered even as she was at the front door, reaching in her pocket for the keys. But before she could unlock the door, it had opened in front of her. Neji couldn't see who had been the person at the door, but it snapped him out of his stare, and he fumbled with the ignition, starting up the car and making a sharp U-turn away from the house.

---

5 reviews = next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

_"If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people."_

_- Thich Nhat Hanh_

_---  
_

When Neji spotted Hinata sitting by herself on a bench outside of school the next day, he couldn't help but laugh bitterly to himself; Was this all a dream?

"We're dressed the same," was his greeting, his expression bemused.

He saw Hinata's eyes trail down Neji's faded blue jeans, plain white t-shirt, dark blue sweater and black scarf, and she giggled. "Maybe we're not opposites after all."

"Where do you want to go?"

"I don't mind."

"Okay."

It was snowing lightly that day, something the two Hyuugas talked about appreciatively, as it had not snowed since December.

"I hoped it would snow on my birthday," Hinata said. "I don't get many presents on my birthday because it is right after Christmas."

"December 27th," Neji said.

Hinata looked at him, surprised. "You remembered?"

"Yeah. I have a good memory."

"And yours is July 3rd."

Neji saw her looking, and turned his head toward her. She instantly averted her eyes. "I have a good memory, too," she said.

Hinata lead them to a small coffee shop in her neighborhood. The outside was decorated with red and pink hearts, even though Valentine 's Day has passed over a week ago.

"This place makes really good coffee," Hinata chimed in as they stepped inside the shop. They ordered their drinks at the counter and then found a table to sit in beside the window.

The glass was plastered by snow. It looked quite like the world outside was pure white, and they stared.

The waitress approached them and handed them their drinks. Neji looked at Hinata as she cautiously sipped at her whipped-cream topped hot chocolate. Cat's tongue, he thought with a little smile. He drank from his black coffee, letting the scalding liquid burn his tongue.

"You don't want any sugar?" Hinata asked him, shaking some into her already sweet drink.

"No."

"Okay. Well, how is school, Neji?"

Neji shrugged. "Boring. The only times the classes become interesting is when I raise my hand," he said slowly and softly.

Hinata smiled and raised an eyebrow at his over-confidence. "I see. So why don't you raise your hand at every moment?"

Neji smirked, or rather, the corner of his lips twitched. "I rarely have the energy anymore, it seems."

"Do you get enough sleep?"

Neji played with a strand of his dark hair that had fallen over his shoulder and studied it as he talked. "I suppose not. I often do not go to bed until late, and my sleep is very light."

"I thought people slept in stages, you know, light and deep, and such."

"Not me, it seems."

"Oh, well, I suppose you are lucky. Sometimes I sleep so deeply I do not even hear my alarm go off," Hinata chuckled.

"Perhaps you wear yourself out at soccer," Neji suggested. "Have you re-joined the team yet?"

Hinata shook her head. "No, not yet. Tomorrow is our next practice."

"Oh, I see. I hope your leg is well enough to run on by now."

Hinata smiled. "It's okay. After that fall, I'll no doubt be as cautious as possible from now on."

They both laughed a little, and Neji felt himself loosening up. He pointed at her. "Then what is that?" he said. Hinata touched her face with her hand, and he added, "That scar on your chin. I noticed it when we first met."

Hinata hand trailed down to her chin. "This? I've had it for a while, I think." Her voice had suddenly lowered, and she wasn't looking at him anymore.

Neji's blood suddenly went cold and he regretted saying anything. He had a suspicion that the scar wasn't from soccer.

"Um… table edges aren't so friendly, are they?" he said with a pained smile.

Hinata's head shot up, and she was staring at Neji with large and confused eyes. She looked like she might cry, and Neji felt like he might do the same. He lowered his head until he was staring at his lap and his hair covered his face.

"I didn't know you remembered," Hinata finally said, voice weak. She wasn't looking at him either.

"I remember everything," Neji said, resting his head in his hand.

"So… this whole time, when you asked me all those questions about Mom, you already knew what I was going to say."

"I didn't want to talk about her…" Neji's voice cracked. "So I let you do it for me."

Hinata's voice became high pitched. "I thought it wasn't about you, _for once_. I thought you were actually interested in me and my problems."

"What do you mean, for once?" Neji's voice was harsher. He needed a different emotion to stop himself from being sad, so he chose the familiar path of anger. "When has it ever been about me?"

"It's always about you!" Hinata shrieked, bursting into tears. "All Mom ever talks about is you! I used to ask her why she never speaks to me, and you know what she said? She said that people are better off without families. 'Just look at Neji', she said. 'The minute he left us he became something great.'"

Neji grasped his head with his hands, squeezing his eyes shut. "Do you think I wanted to be alone? To be without a family? _Do you really think that?_"

Neji and Hinata suddenly realized that the entire coffee shop was silent and staring at them. Hinata, ashamed, threw down some money on the table and ran out of the shop. Neji put down his own money and followed her, trying to ignore the whispers behind him.

Outside, she was already halfway down the block. Neji caught up to her and grabbed her arm. She yelped and whirled around.

"_Do you really believe that I'm better off without a family?_" he yelled.

She flinched and folded her arms protectively, face dark. "I don't know," she said quietly. "Why didn't you ever come back, if you really wanted one?"

"You really think I had a choice?"

"Of course you did. Everyone always has a choice, and you chose to stay away from us."

"I couldn't come back!" Neji choked. "Don't you understand?"

"No, I don't."

"Imagine how you would feel if you were away from home for a day, then a week, then six months, then two years, when you were 11 years old. How do you think you would feel?"

When Hinata continued to stare silently and angrily at the sidewalk, Neji said, "Once you've left your family, you can't go back. It's too late for me."

"Then why are you here with me?" Hinata croaked. "Why would you bother to be nice to me?"

"I didn't _want_ to be a person without a family," Neji said desperately. "It just happened. Every time I hear someone complain about how much they hate their mother, I want to kill them, because they don't know how that _actually feels like_. When you hate your family there is always going to be a part of you that wishes they were there with you, no matter what you do."

Neji fought helplessly against the urge to cry like Hinata. He gripped his hair and shut his eyes, shaking. He heard Hinata whisper, "Is that what you feel for me? You hate me, but you wish I was there with you?"

Neji let out a small moan of emotional pain. They stood there for a moment, not saying anything, until Neji managed to choke out, "Should I have stayed…?"

Hinata inched toward him. She put her hands on his shoulders in an attempt to comfort him without getting too close. "No…" she crooned. "No, don't blame yourself… I know that you had to leave… if you had stayed, then you would still be getting hit everyday… you would still be afraid of _her_."

Neji whimpered. "But if I had stayed, then you would not be suffering now. Mom would have continued to love you the most and your life would be perfect."

"Yes, but… it is a little different for me." Hinata looked at Neji and cupped his cheek in her hand. Neji shivered from the contact. It was the most they had touched each other since he could remember. "… I am not blind in one eye."

The touch on his cheek turned cold, and Neji could have sworn he felt his blood freeze. He stared, horrified, at his sister, and slowly backed away. After a few steps he turned and ran away, hearing her call after him desperately.

That night, Neji dreamt. He dreamt of the day when he had given Hinata that scar on her chin, when they had been little kids fighting over the TV remote, and, as usual, the fight had gotten physical. Hinata had been pulling at Neji's hair and he had yelped and tried to get her off of him. He had scratched at her blindly and ripped the sleeve of her shirt. In response she had thrown Neji to the ground, and he had pulled her with her violently. As the fight continued on the ground, Neji had thrown her away from him and tried to stand up, but she was grabbing on him. Neji had yanked her off of him and threw her to the ground, and her face had smacked against the edge of the short coffee table of their living room. She had collapsed to the floor, crying, and Neji had felt a momentary surge of triumph, laughing at her, until he had heard his mother's heavy footsteps coming down the stairs, and then he ran.

Neji woke up from his sleep that night no more rested than he felt when he closed his eyes.


End file.
